SXU will be hosting a coding competition for the first time in conjunction with the Society of Computer Scientists and Engineers. The event comes just off the heels of the ACCA Programming contest held at Elmhurst University on February 16th, 2019.
Computer Science majors will note that discussion of having an internal coding competition has been silently in the works over the last few semesters, and this will mark the first time that it’s actually come to fruition.
Professor Jean Mehta expressed particular interest in getting an event together.
Mehta noted that the interest in participating from novice teams seemed much more sparse than students that had passed CMPSC 311, a junior level class. Grzegorz Cudzich, President of Society of Computer Scientists and Engineers, first reached out to students within the Computer Science Department with details pertaining to the Hackathon on February 21st, 2019.
In addition to dates, times and locations, Cudzich attached terms and conditions for qualifying for participation. The first was that students would have to work alone.
This was a curveball, as the majority of coding competitions SXU students have competed in had groups upwards of 4 participants. Few team members meant that bugs and errors would be much more frequent and time consuming to manage, as only one can be addressed at a time.
Cudzich also addressed that submissions that would be considered for placements had to be completely original for the competition, e.g. no previous homework assignments. SXU offers a wide curriculum for Computer Science, so the limitation of expertise wouldn’t be an issue when considering what to submit.
In fact, Cudzich embraced the variety. He states, “Participants will be able to create anything they want as long as it’s functioning”, and then later elaborated on The Den, “Participants will be able to create anything they choose from a web page to a simple program in the language they choose.”
Participants were encouraged to work on their submissions prior to the competition date. “You can get a head start and work on your project before the event happens as well as take the time during the event to polish up any loose ends in your project.”
After submission and demonstration, deliberations will begin. Following, a winner will be selected and will be presented with a prize of a $25 Amazon gift card. In the past, Cudzich has participated in coding competitions held by other associations.
When asked how he felt about being a judge rather than a participant, Cudzich said, “It’s kinda refreshing, because now you get to see how other individuals think through programs, as well as what they are capable of making, as opposed to what your team is capable of making.
“It’s gonna be a lot of fun to see these individuals show their creative sides and develop their program. Whether it’s going to be a website, script, or a game, it’s gonna be cool.” Cudzich also shared his thoughts on why he chose to only allow individual submissions.
“It was going to be groups initially, but I wanted to see everyone’s individual projects and ideas. It also would show who stood out amongst the crowd as the superstars in the department and see what they’re capable of. Plus, it makes it more competitive fighting for the gift card.
“I guess the prize also came into mind… Mainly, though, I wanted everyone to get the chance to show what they can do. In my opinion, there’s gotta be pride in that.” Cudzich noted that the reception garnered from students interested in the event has been positive.
“I’ve had a good number of students start telling me about how big their projects are going to be, or that their going to try their hardest to make something from scratch. It’s gonna be fun.” Cudzich also shared that for many of the participants, this will be their first coding competition.
“Actually, all the students who told me they were excited about it have actually never been to a competition. Which makes sense; not a lot of people actually like working in groups. It’s either that or it’s like anxiety.
“Maybe they feel like a group would bog them down. With competitions SXU has been a part of, you have to be in teams. With this, you can work at your own pace, at your own level. It’s attracting that particular crowd.” Cudzich also shared that there is more hesitation to participate among SXU’s first years.
“I have really had any of the [CMPSC 200] (a class typically taken in the second semester of a Computer Science majors freshman year) come up and ask me about it.” When asked on his advice for students that had interest in participating in competitions in the future, Cudzich spoke from his past experience.
“Definitely, if you’re part of a group, prioritize management and leader control. In past competitions, we fell behind considerably because we lacked control. Usually it would be eight programming problems and we would all just jump on any one of them. Make sure you go into it structured and with a battle plan so that you can knock out more questions.
“It makes the experience smoother and helps you transition from one to the next.” In regards to the future plans of the SCSE, Cudzich has big plans.
“Right now it’s a hackathon, so we’re gonna have to have a couple more “fun” events. I’d like to host a Mortal Kombat tournament. We’ve had Smash events in the past, but a more traditional fighter would be cool. I’d also like to get a field trip going to 1871, a startup based in downtown.
“It’d be cool to show kids the startup life, how it works and get them interested. Maybe get to some startups and get information like what certain companies are looking for, with people who work for the same places they’d be applying to. Give them a little bit of real life experience.
“A lot of the alumi that come to speak have jobs in large corporations, which can come across as bland or bleak, and this is another option for students. There are a bunch of startups out there and they are always looking to hire developers in all different positions.
“It’d be cool to give startups their time to shine.” The event will take place on March 6th, 2019 from 3:30pm to 6:00pm in S113 in the Warde Academic Center.
Eric Perez
News Reporter